


Fairytale of New York

by MadameReveuse



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, M/M, Post-Reynolds Pamphlet, Slow Burn, like they're not gonna jump each other right away, these boys have issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-08 07:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5488421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameReveuse/pseuds/MadameReveuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not sure where to spend a lonely Christmas night, somehow Hamilton ends up at Burr's place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy, my very first Hamilton fic..... this is a great fandom and I'm nervous as fuck....
> 
> I'm taking a lot of my characterization of Burr from his journals so be prepared: he's a fucking mess.

Well, Hamilton concluded while trudging through the snowy streets, this Christmas dinner had been nothing short of dreadful.

Eliza had been cordial but cold, Angelica had thrown him baleful glances every five minutes, the kids had just been uncomfortable. It was clear that they had been harboring the childish hope that the family would fix itself over Christmas, like in the movies, but unfortunately that was not how the world worked.

  
Hamilton had shirked their offer to stay the night – on the couch, no less – knowing that he’d only been invited in the first place because Eliza and Angelica, tender-hearted as they were, couldn’t bear the thought of him spending Christmas Eve in his freezing office by himself, despite his misdeeds.

  
The thing was, _he too_ hated the thought of spending Christmas Eve in his freezing office by himself.

  
But, having just escaped Eliza, who could he go to, really? Back in the day he would’ve had a free pick of friends available, but now Lafayette had returned to France, Laurens…wasn’t here anymore... maybe Mulligan was in town with his family but he really didn’t know. He hadn’t talked to the guy in ages. Hamilton sighed and realized that his friend network was running quite thin these days.

  
Maybe he should just call it a night and head back to the office. The heater would probably give out on him, but at least there were blankets there and he even had a little plastic tree, courtesy of Aaron Burr and his mockingly raised eyebrows.

  
Speaking of. Aaron Burr.

  
It seemed he did have another option left.

 

 _Good god, this is how low I’ve sunk_ , Hamilton thought as he eyed up Burr’s apartment building. _Beggars can’t be choosers, Alexander_ , he reminded himself. _Everything’s better than freezing my ass off out here._

  
He tried to peer into the lit-up windows that he knew belonged to Burr’s apartment. He thought he could spy a tree, a real one. Now here he stood, stomping his freezing feet, blowing on his icy hands and debating with himself whether or not he should just go on. He became aware he might be looking like a homeless person. Which, upon close consideration, wasn’t too far from the truth.

  
In the end it was really just the thought of getting out of the cold that pushed him forward and made him ring the doorbell.

  
He had kind of absurdly hoped to catch Burr red-handed with a dorky Christmas sweater or something. But Aaron gave him nothing to work with: his sweater was a tasteful navy blue and his expression a total blank as he opened the door and said: “Hamilton.” Just that.

  
“Yeah, hi. I was just…in the area, and I thought I could drop by real quick and…Merry Christmas.”

  
He fidgeted a bit, wondering if he should go in for a handshake or a hug or something equally festive. Burr kept up his pokerface.

  
“You were in the area?” he asked pointedly. “Why on earth were you in the—?”

  
“Papa?” a high-pitched voice chirped from somewhere inside the apartment, interrupting Burr. “Papa, is that Santa at the door?”

  
Without batting an eye, Burr gave Hamilton a critical once-over.

  
“I’m afraid not, sweetheart” he said wryly. Alexander almost chuckled.

  
“Seriously, if I’d known you’d come by, I’d have a costume ready” Burr said in a low voice. “Just for Theo’s sake. Anyway. Come inside. Shoes off. You want coffee? Merry Christmas.”

  
He was led into the living room that held the tree, and a girl in pajamas on the couch, holding what looked like a huge cup of hot chocolate. She gave him a curious look when he entered, but left the couch and the room rather than talking to him. Hamilton hadn’t met her before, but he was pretty sure that this was Burr’s daughter, Theodosia. She had his eyes.

  
Aaron beckoned for him to sit down on the couch the girl had vacated.

  
“I’ll go make coffee, if you want anything else…”

  
“Can…I have a hot chocolate like she had?” Alexander felt a smidgen childish, but it had seemed so festive. He found himself gazing at the lit Christmas tree with his vision getting blurry around the edges. He could not remember the last time he’d gotten a full night’s sleep.

  
Burr shot him a _look_ but went off to the kitchen without protest, calling out for his daughter along the way.

  
“Theo, get your cup over here to wash up, then get ready for bed. Santa won’t be coming unless you’re asleep, you know that.”

  
Theodosia reappeared and trailed her father into the kitchen, closing the door behind her. She probably thought she was being stealthy, but Hamilton could hear her when she asked: “Papa, who’s that in the living room?”

  
He also heard Burr answer: “That’s Mr. Hamilton, dear, a…friend of mine.”

  
Note the pause before _friend_.

  
“Is he the one with the whole scandal?” Theodosia asked, sounding a lot older than she was. Hamilton winced. Even people’s little kids knew.

  
“Yes, but please don’t mention that to him now.”

  
“But he wrote that pamphlet himself…”

  
“That he did, but it’s still not a good thing to talk about on Christmas. Let’s not ruin it for him any more than it probably already is.”

  
“Okay, papa.”

  
“Right. Now go brush your teeth, and then to bed.”

  
Theodosia obeyed, leaving Alexander alone with her father and his pokerface. Burr kept word and fixed him a hot chocolate and even though it was at first too hot to drink, Alexander relished the smell and the warmth of the cup. His hands and feet were only slowly beginning to unfreeze. Indeed it felt like his feet had frozen into solid ice blocks and he almost feared he might thaw and drip water onto the carpet.

  
“So, what on earth brings you here?” Burr asked. “I mean, of all places to be on Christmas…”

  
“Ah, well I actually just escaped the family dinner at ho—at Eliza’s.”

  
Burr had the common graces to look sympathetic. “That must’ve been fun” he said. He spared Hamilton from having to answer that one by turning his back to open a cupboard (too high up for a kid to reach, the part of Hamilton that was first and foremost a father noted) and emerging with a few wrapped packages in his arms.

  
“Theodosia’s a fast sleeper” he said. “But if you hear any noise from her, I’d appreciate a heads up.”

  
Hamilton nodded and watched Burr’s back as he got to arranging presents under the tree in whichever way he found aesthetically pleasing. He had lots of room to get creative. There weren’t very many presents, or very large ones…

  
“You know, the story goes” Burr said wryly, as if reading Hamilton’s thoughts, “that once upon a time I actually had money to buy decent gifts for my daughter.”

  
“What happened?”

  
“To the money? Oh, this and that.” Burr shrugged. A part of Hamilton’s mind tucked this vague non-answer away for further inspection, because there was something Burr was not telling him here. For lack of anything better to do, he got up off the couch and squatted next to Burr, prodding at the presents. “Don’t tell me this is all books.”

  
“It’s not _all_ books. And believe it or not, my daughter is the kind of child who’s actually happy about being given something to read.”

  
“Got any good presents yourself?”

  
“You” Burr said in the most cutting, ironic tone possible. “And maybe Jefferson will send a card.” Hamilton had all but forgotten he could be so hilariously wry. In the last few years, they hadn’t really communicated much beyond what was necessary for work, and he recalled Burr as stiff, boring, a suck-up when he had to be. He’d not expected Burr could intentionally make him grin like this.  
But Hamilton could relate, he was in a similar situation. The only gifts he had received this year were some scrawled drawings from his kids, well, those who hadn’t sided with their mother in being mad at him. They were tucked away in his pocket now and he would sooner die than lose them, but…still.

  
He sighed. “Now here we are” he said. “Christmas never felt less like Christmas.”

  
“Stop that now. If you’re starting to be nostalgic I’ll kick you right out.”

  
He got up. “I suppose you want to sleep here. Take the couch. It’s kind of late.”

  
It hadn’t even occurred to Hamilton to ask. He felt faintly embarrassed, but he’d rather not look this gift horse in the mouth. The couch looked cozy, and the room was warm. It was better by lengths than the futon on the cold floor of his office.

  
So now here he was, getting comfortable on the couch with a blanket that Burr had tossed him. He’d told him to turn off the tree when he went to sleep, but Hamilton found himself looking at the lights for a little longer. It was all very quiet and they looked so pretty and okay, he was really really tired.  
Like an afterthought, Burr emerged from his bedroom again, holding a bundle of clothes, which he threw over.

  
“Hey, you can borrow.”

  
Fresh, clean pjs. So he would not have to sleep in his underwear. Hamilton felt like he was hitting the jackpot of life.

  
Burr didn’t return to bed but remained standing in the door, averting his eyes when Hamilton changed. He’d always pegged him for the conservative pajamas type, or something ridiculous in silk, in any case he’d assumed Burr would look as neat going to bed as he did at work. Reality looked like a faded Marvel t-shirt and sweatpants that had probably never been utilized for their original purpose.

  
“So, the Avengers, huh?” he asked.

  
Burr shrugged. “Everyone likes the Avengers, right?”

  
Hamilton rolled his eyes. Now that was typical. Even in his choice of movies to watch in his free time, Burr would try to adhere to the mainstream.

  
If Burr noticed his reaction, he didn’t care. He just kept lounging in the doorway, watching. It was getting a tad bit unnerving.

  
“Weren’t you going to sleep?”

  
“Guess I can’t. I really should’ve known better than to drink coffee at night. Keeps me up.” Now that sounded harmless enough.

  
Burr abandoned the door and went to the window, throwing it open and letting the cool night air in. Hamilton huddled under his blanket and thought about if he should complain. He could only see Burr’s back now, watched as he seemed to cup his hands in front of his face. Then he heard a small click, a metallic scraping sound, and beheld a brief glint of light. Only the smoke cloud that followed told his sleep-addled brain what was going on.

  
“You smoke?”

  
“Mmh” Burr hummed, lips closed around his cigarette.

  
“You don’t in the office.”

  
“I’d rather not trip the fire alert, thank you very much.”

  
Hamilton considered this. Preceding this night, he would never have been able to conjure up in his mind a picture of Aaron Burr smoking at an open window in a worn superhero shirt. For all he knew about the man, Burr might as well sit silently in a filing cabinet when it wasn’t work hours. They had been pretty close at college, but today he hadn’t the faintest idea what the hell Burr did with his time when he wasn’t in the office.

  
He cleared his throat. “Why did you call me _your friend_ earlier? Are we that, _friends_?”

  
He saw Burr bristle just the slightest bit, and wondered if his tone had been interpreted as conveying _“we are not friends.”_ Himself, Hamilton wasn’t sure if that was what he’d been meaning to say.

  
“You heard that? I told my daughter that because she’d hate for me to bring work home on the holiday. Christmas is supposed to be a family thing.”

  
“A family of two, are you?”

  
“Better than a family of one.”

  
The comment had a thinly disguised barb in it, and Hamilton felt himself rising to the bait, ready to bite back. He didn’t really want to fight, but still, who was Burr to mock his situation?

  
Of course Aaron read the mood and tried to placate, as was his way. “Look, sorry, that was mean. I’m just…we used to be a family of three not too long ago. I’m finding it a bit hard to handle that… it’s the first Christmas since my wife…”

  
_Oh, right, shit,_ thought Hamilton, swallowing all the retorts sitting bitterly on his tongue. “Right, I’m…sorry. I guess none of us is in a place to mock the other for being alone on Christmas.”

  
And that was why fate had put them here together, wasn’t it? Somehow it was meant to balance out.

  
“Last year we put the tree in the bedroom so she could look at it” Burr muttered. “We unwrapped our presents on the bed, it was a mess. We still found wrapping paper everywhere for months. It was…foreseeable, then, what was coming, but even if she was bedridden, she was _there_. The year before that, we spent Christmas at the hospital. But, I mean, we were together.”

  
He sighed and chucked his cigarette out of the window without much ceremony. “Go to sleep” he said to Hamilton, turning to leave. “Remember to turn the tree off.”

  
As soon as the door had fallen shut behind Burr, Hamilton got up and switched off the lights on the tree. He wasn’t in the mood for Christmas cheer now. Actually he felt peeved more than anything else as he huddled back underneath his blanket.

  
Somehow it was meant to balance out, but it didn’t balance out evenly. It wasn’t _fair_. Here he was spending the holiday with Burr of all people, and they’d both take it over being alone, but they were both aware that fate had dealt them a shitty hand. Burr’s silent, morose company was a far shot from everything Hamilton had lost – Eliza’s smile, Angelica’s animated conversation, the laughter of the kids, and the huge pile of presents underneath the tree because eight kids means Christmas is a costly affair.

  
He thought of the comparatively puny amount of presents lying across the room from him, waiting for Theodosia. Somehow, his mood worsened. He was well aware that _his_ company couldn’t bring back what the girl and her father had lost, either.

  
But, he thought as he dozed off, they would have to put up with each other.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to upload this on actual Christmas....which, as could have been predicted, didn't happen. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, thanks to everyone who commented and left kudos so far, especially the people welcoming me into the fandom like. So heartwarming!!
> 
> Oh btw I saw a tumblr post somewhere that said Lin is aware of fanfics existing, so if you happen to be him, hello, I love your work, I'd love to offer you a sandwich, please don't stab me for this abominable fic (just a safety precaution. you never know)

He woke up to a plethora of breakfast smells and Aaron Burr nudging his shoulder.

“Get up, loser, we need room on the couch!”

  
Compared to last night, Burr seemed positively chipper today, the awkward almost-fight and the general melancholy mood of last night apparently forgotten. Feeling a bit groggy, Hamilton sat up and got his bearings as Burr left to wake Theodosia. He had only just shuffled to one end of the couch to make space when she entered the room in her green Princess Tiana pajamas and made a beeline for her presents. If she was the least bit disturbed by Hamilton still being there, she didn’t show it. She barely spared him a glance as she got to unwrapping. She did show what looked like honest delight (children didn’t know how to fake these things yet, right?) at receiving new books and a pair of ice skates (apparently she was enrolled in a figure skating class). In fact she curled up on the couch with one of the books and promptly got lost in it, not at all shy of Hamilton who was still sitting next to her wrapped in a blanket and probably somewhat resembled a hobo. He touched his hair. It felt greasy. He sighed. For the most part, his office was alright to live in, but it lacked a shower. Usually he just washed his hair in the sink and kept the rest of him clean by means of a wet washcloth.   
Now he shook the blanket and plodded over to the kitchen where Burr was still busy making breakfast.

  
“Aaron, can I use your shower?”

  
“Mmh? Oh, sure.” Burr looked him over. “You need it.”

  
“Thanks.” Under any other circumstances, Hamilton would have snapped, but…he didn’t feel like it. For several reasons. Chief among them being that Burr was not wrong.

  
“I’ll be off after that, I promise.”

  
“No sweat. Stay for breakfast.” That was odd: last night Burr hadn’t looked at all eager to have Hamilton in his house. Now he was asking him to stay with a casual air. But he seemed sincere.

  
“I need a change of clothes, though.”

  
“You can borrow off me.”

  
Well, _now_ he was clearly going above and beyond the call.

  
“Aaron” Hamilton said quietly, carefully. “What are you doing?”

  
Burr shrugged in return. “It’s Christmas. I’m giving the needy a place under my roof. You’re not exactly Virgin Mary but it’ll do.”

  
Hamilton grinned. “Not baby Jesus either?”

  
“Especially not baby Jesus, now go and have a shower, honestly you look like death warmed up.”

 

Half an hour later Hamilton found himself sitting at the breakfast table with the little family, freshly cleaned and wearing one of Burr’s shirts. Since Burr was both taller and leaner than him, it was a bit of an awkward fit. But it would do until he got back to the office and could change.

  
Anyhow he felt surprisingly at peace with himself while shoveling pancakes into his mouth. Of course this blissful, sun-filled little moment had to end, and soon he would have to leave (he couldn’t overstay his welcome), but for now Alexander was content.

  
The momentary peace was broken by the ringing of a cell phone (standard ringtone).

  
“Mine” Burr said and got up to grab it from the counter. It became apparent that he had a habit of meandering aimlessly about the apartment when talking on the phone, and Hamilton watched his back as he left the kitchen. Objectively, Burr always did have a nice ass.

  
“Hello…yeah, speaking…ah hi, thanks a lot, happy Christmas to you too Ms. Prevost…”

  
“That’s my auntie” Theodosia explained in a hushed voice. “Mommy’s sister. She lives in England.”

  
“Ah” Hamilton said eloquently. This was the first full sentence Theodosia had spoken to him.

  
“My mommy died a year ago” she continued, stabbing at her pancake with her fork.

  
“I’m sorry” Hamilton replied.

  
“Yeah” Theodosia said. “Papa has other women stay the night sometimes. Or men, actually. But they never get breakfast. Only I get breakfast.” The girl smiled, clearly proud of her breakfast privileges. Then she added: “And you.”

  
Hamilton was still too busy digesting the information that Burr seemed to have intermittent one-night-stands over (or maybe he frequented prostitutes? Of both sexes? That had to put a strain on the finances) to give any answer save for an affirmative humming sound. Yes, he was indeed having breakfast right now.

  
He only got what Theodosia was implying when she asked: “Does that mean you’re going to stay for _ever_?”

  
Hamilton choked on his piece of toast.

  
His wheezing struggle with death and Theodosia’s worried noises alerted Burr who, having ended his phonecall, clapped him on the back to dislodge the stubborn piece of toast from his windpipe and handed him a glass of water.

  
“What on earth was that now? I leave for five minutes and you’re already dying?”

  
“Aaron, please tell your daughter that I’m not your boyfriend.”

  
“He is not my boyfriend, sweetie” Burr said without batting an eye. He lifted a hand to his face, as if absent-minded, then turned around to pour himself a cup of coffee.

  
Theodosia hummed and smiled in response. “You made papa blush” she whispered, with some satisfaction, to Hamilton.

  
“How on earth can you tell?” It wasn’t like Burr’s complexion betrayed any sort of blushing.

  
Theodosia giggled. “He’ll always put his hand on his face like this when he’s blushing” she said, imitating the exact gesture.

  
“That’s good to know” Hamilton muttered. And it really was. He felt like he was one small step closer to making sense of the enigma that was Aaron Burr. Then he asked himself when that had become important again.

  
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by his own phone ringing. He picked it up and glanced at the screen.

  
“That’s Eliza…” He felt dread settling in the pit of his stomach. So much for peace. What could Eliza have to say to him…?

  
“Get it over with” Burr advised.

  
Hamilton took a deep breath and answered the phone.

  
“Hello darli—hello Eliza.”

  
“Alexander” she said, her voice clipped. Well, she had every reason and more to be brief with him. “How are you doing?”

  
“Fine, I’m fine. What, umm…what do you need?”

  
“Nothing. But Philip won’t stop asking after you.”

  
“Oh.” He suddenly felt skewered by how much he missed his son.

  
“He would like to spend time with you. I assume you’re still staying in your office, so…”

  
“No, I actually spent the night at…” Aaron next to him shook his head and formed some words with his lips: DON’T MENTION ME. Alexander had no idea why he shouldn’t, but he ended the sentence: “…at a friend’s.”

  
“Oh?” Eliza asked in a not unfriendly way. “Is this going to be a permanent thing with that friend?”

  
Alexander highly doubted it, but he didn’t know what to say. Eliza sounded like she was hoping it would be a permanent thing. The thought of having left him to his own devices living in his office must still be gnawing at her, because no matter how mad she was at him, Eliza was an angel at her core.

  
“I don’t…know” he said into the phone. “But I’m sorting things out. I’m getting back on track.” Over on the couch, Aaron cocked his head with something close to pity on his face. _Liar_ , his dark eyes seemed to say.

  
“If only you had some permanent place to live, I’d feel better about entrusting you with Philip more often. You know, he really misses you.”

  
Alexander took a deep breath. “I’m taking care of it right now.” He was so glad that she wasn’t on speaker. Aaron had no idea what he was actually claiming to be _taking care of_. He certainly would not appreciate being dragged into this.

  
“So, should I bring Philip to wherever it is you’re staying…?”

  
“Oh no, no, I can pick him up. No trouble at all.”

  
He could tell from the way Eliza acknowledged this and said her goodbyes that she was still wary of all this and unsure if she should believe him. He couldn’t blame her; after all he _had_ just flat out lied. But he would get to spend a day with his eldest son. A _whole day_. He could worry about everything else later.

  
“So, who did you just consent into picking up?” Burr asked.

  
“My son Philip.”

  
“Okay…”

  
“You might remember him, he’s about Theodosia’s age. A few months older, I think.”

  
“Of course I remember him. You made me look at ten new pictures every day for weeks after he was born.”

  
“I was proud of my son! And I still am. Didn’t think I’d have to explain that to _you_. And anyway, why was I not allowed to mention you earlier?”

  
“I’m not exactly popular with the Schuyler sisters. A few youthful misdeeds on my part there.”

  
“Oh, that? That was years ago. Angelica dislikes you, sure, but I don’t think Eliza ever did.”

  
“Well, she _did_ ask me to be her divorce lawyer” Aaron said in his modest way. He didn’t brag. In fact, Hamilton knew no other person who was less prone to bragging. He absolutely despised when other people did it.  
Then the meaning of what he had just said transpired, and Hamilton blanched. “And are you doing that?”

  
“I’ve asked her for some time to think it over. I haven’t decided yet.”

  
Alexander hoped with fervor that he wouldn’t decide in Eliza’s favor. If she was defended by Aaron Burr in court, she would get anything and everything she wanted out of the divorce. Which might mean permanent homelessness for Alexander, or never getting to see his children again.

  
“Honestly I don’t think I’ll take her case” Aaron said, much to Hamilton’s relief. “Your family issues are the kind of unsavory mess I wouldn’t want to get involved with.”

  
“You did handle the Reynolds divorce.”

  
“Unrelated” Aaron waved it off. “Shouldn’t you be going? I’m sure you have a lot planned with your son today.”

  
Hamilton made as if to get up, but halfway through the motion his face fell and his whole posture seemed to sag. “I don’t actually have anything planned” he muttered, dragging a hand through his hair.

  
“What…?”

  
“Eliza thinks I’ve found a new roommate to live with when really I haven’t. I just wanted her to think I had things under control, but…I have no idea what to do now. She’ll hear from Philip that I fucked up, and then she’ll never let me near the kids again, ever…”

 

Aaron saw that Hamilton was close to freaking out completely and went to his side, placing a hand on his forearm in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. Eliza denying Alexander access to his kids was not very likely to happen, in Aaron’s estimation, and he knew Hamilton was panicking…but well, the man had been under a lot of stress lately. If he was being a bit irrational, he couldn’t be blamed.

  
“Look, I don’t think Eliza can keep you from seeing your kids right now. Not without a court mandate” Aaron said, which only earned him another horrified stare. “I told you I won’t take the case” he added. _Probably_ , he thought to himself within the confines of his mind. If Hamilton went out of his way to piss him off in the course of the next week, he just might.

  
“But later, fuck, she’ll use this against me, I know she will…”

  
“Calm down…”

  
“You’re telling me to _calm down_?!”

  
“We’ll figure something out…”

  
“ _We_? Since when is it _we_?”

  
“Since you showed up at my place last night because you have literally no one else in your corner now.” That was mean, Aaron realized, but it had just slipped out and it did its purpose shutting Hamilton up. Also, since when did he go around considering himself in Hamilton’s _corner_? He wasn’t the sort of person to be caught in anyone’s corners. Hell, sometimes he doubted if he was in his own corner. And Hamilton knew that.

  
“Ah, but I thought my family affairs were ‘the kind of unsavory mess’ you ‘wouldn’t want to get involved with’? Hmm?”

  
Aaron huffed. “Look, you can either continue bitching or accept my help in what is clearly an emergency.”

  
“So what do you propose I… _we_ do? Colonel Burr?”

  
The military honorific sent an unexpected jolt through Aaron. Even after all these years…

  
_Get it together_ , he warned himself. _You’re supposed to be the level-headed one._

  
“You go and pick up your son” he told Hamilton. “And then the both of you come back here.”

  
“And then?” Hamilton asked.

  
“I propose we’ll make the rest up as we go along.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a while. Sorry about that. I had an idea for a completely different fic that consumed all my free time. And then there's university.  
> Thanks to everyone who left kudos and comments!!!  
> You may ask: what IS the deal with the hookers?? Well I did ask myself that while reading Burr's journal. Some people entertain the notion that Burr suffered from hypersexuality (there's something of a mention of that on the wikipedia page even). It's a lot to tackle in a fanfic but I'll try...  
> Also, some Philip & Theo interaction!! I never quite know if I'm writing kids right. It's been over ten years since I was that small.

Hamilton came back with Philip in tow to both Burrs reading on the couch. Aaron had today’s newspaper, Theo one of her books. It was a different book than the one she’d had at breakfast. The both of them were curled up on the couch in the exact same position, and they both had the exact same expression of rapt attention on their faces as they read. Alexander could have snapped a picture of it. This scene belonged in a picture book. The Ideal Single Dad and his Ideal Prodigious Daughter. The wet dream of all mothers-in-law. Theodosia had changed out of her pjs into a sky-blue dress with a matching bow in her hair. In a few years, Alex prophesied, she would have a ‘fro to rival Thomas Jefferson’s. She’d make a very pretty young woman then. And her father…Aaron had always been an attractive guy…

Hamilton realized he was standing in the door staring at them with a weird, fond little smile on his face. _Get it together, man_ , he told himself. _Burr giving you a little charity doesn’t mean he’s family all of a sudden. You don’t_ _even like him._

  
He cleared his throat, which made Aaron look up. “How’d you get in here?”

  
“Grabbed your keys, _roommate_ ” Alexander replied, setting them down on the coffee table. Aaron looked peeved at that, so before he could remark anything on it, Hamilton gently nudged Philip forward. “So, this is Philip.”

  
Philip gazed at the two strangers in front of him with curiosity. He seemed to dismiss Burr as a Boring Adult and quickly zeroed in on Theodosia. “Hi” he said to her.

  
“Go on, Theo, say hello.”

  
Theodosia slid off the sofa and came to stand in front of Philip. “Hi” she said, proffering her hand. “I’m Theodosia.”

  
Philip took her hand and shook it. Alexander had to grin about how solemn that looked: like they were playing at being little adults.

  
“I’m a poet” Philip announced to Theo. Hamilton smiled. The circumstances hadn’t permitted him having a proper conversation with his son for…ah, much too long, but he was glad to see he seemed to be the same old Philip. A tad more quiet perhaps. But he’d feel awfully behind and out of touch with his kids if Philip had, in his absence, picked up a whole new hobby and didn’t want to be a poet anymore.

  
“Well, I’m going to be a women’s rights activist when I get older” Theo replied aloofly.

  
Hamilton raised his brows and looked at Burr, who responded with his usual bland smile. _Aha_ , Hamilton thought. _So Burr does have opinions…and passes them on to his daughter, apparently._

  
“That’s not a real job” Philip said.

  
“Well, neither is _poet_.”

  
Alex thought it was time to intervene. “Guys, be nice to each other.”

  
The kids quietened.

  
“Why don’t you guys pick a movie for all of us to watch?” Aaron suggested, saving the afternoon. The kids immediately united and were sent off with Aaron’s movie collection to decide. When they came back, they sported a box set extended edition of all three Lord of the Rings movies and mutual pleading faces. Hamilton threw Burr an amused glance.

  
“Aren’t you a bit too young for those?” he asked.

  
“I’m reading the books” Theodosia said. “My comprehension skills are way above my age group. All my teachers say so.”

  
“Mom lets me watch adult movies” Philip claimed. Hamilton doubted that. Eliza was the sort of parent who looked very carefully into the media her kids consumed. It was another ugly side effect of the divorce that he couldn’t say for sure if Philip was lying, and that Philip might feel the need to lie to him at all.

  
Aaron made the decision for him.

  
“Okay, we’ll try” he said. “But if you don’t like them, or if the battle scenes scare you, we’ll find some Disney movie instead. And ask one of us if you don’t understand something.”

 

It turned out that whenever one of the kids had a question, Burr was able to rattle off the exact bit of trivia needed and then some. He pronounced the names of all the elves correctly. He knew things about these movies Hamilton couldn’t have even dreamed of. Who on earth was Morgoth? It sounded like the name of a shitty metal band. Anyway, he concluded, Burr was a nerd.

  
Theodosia was mostly quiet and attentive, only speaking up to ask a question occasionally. Philip hid his head in Hamilton’s sweater when the first orc appeared, but later he followed battle scenes with rapt attention and cheered whenever Aragorn, his favorite, appeared. Halfway through the first movie, Burr stood up to make popcorn. Hamilton wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulders and, for a moment, was content.

 

When they had finished the first movie, Philip wanted to go on with the second, but both adults objected. Theodosia was asked to show him her room while their fathers figured out what to do for dinner. Philip had spotted the new crayons she’d received for Christmas and was now trying to scrawl a poem on a piece of paper with a red one. Theo joined him and started coloring, but glanced over her shoulder every few minutes. She had left the door ajar and was sneaking peeks at her father and his friend in the living room. Her dad was looking over Mr. Hamilton’s shoulder at something on his phone. She could hear them talk:

  
“I’m not taking my kid to taco bell. It’s not even authentic Mexican food.”

  
“Who the hell cares, Burr? The important thing here is that it’s cheap.”

  
“Didn’t you get rich or something?”

  
“No, keep up. What I did was I married Eliza, whose father’s loaded, but Eliza is divorcing me and will _probably_ be keeping all her money. At this point I’m just hoping she won’t be insisting on child support.”

  
“She probably won’t. I think she knows you’re penniless.”

  
“If you counsel…”

  
“I _won’t_ …”

  
Theo didn’t understand everything of that, nor did she care particularly. But she saw how Mr. Hamilton and her father worked together. How her dad touched Hamilton’s shoulder, a bit too careful to be casual. How Mr. Hamilton almost relaxed into the touch, but held himself back at the last moment. How their bickering seemed to make both of them less stressed instead of more. Usually, Theo knew, her dad didn’t like to argue.  
She turned to Philip, who apparently wasn’t feeling too inspired and was just drawing red swirls on the paper now.

  
“Don’t you think they’d be pretty cute together? My papa and your dad?”

  
“I don’t know. I want pops to get back with mom” Philip said.

  
“But they won’t. They’re getting a divorce. Do you know what a divorce is?”

  
“Of course I do!” Philip stomped his foot. “I see why they’re doing it. I just _hate_ it. Pop’s never at home anymore and mom is unhappy all the time. She’d be happier if she just let pops come home again.”

  
“No…” Theodosia said doubtfully. “He _cheated_ on her, right? He met another lady behind your mom’s back. And, and if someone does that to you it’s really, really bad. You wouldn’t just take someone back who did you wrong like that.”

  
“But I just don’t get it” Philip argued. “My dad meets lots of ladies besides my mom. Like aunt Angelica and aunt Peggy and others from work…”

  
“It was different with the other one, the Reynolds lady.” Theodosia was only just beginning to get interested in adult business. She wasn’t quite sure about the specifics of _cheating_ , but she knew that it entailed much more than just being friendly with someone. It was like…

  
“He treated that lady as if she was his wife” she concluded with some surety. “He gave her kisses and let her sleep in your mom’s bed and…stuff. Would you like another lady sleeping in your mom’s bed? With your dad there too?”

  
Philip’s face scrunched up. “Gross." He knew that when he had sleepovers with his friends, it was okay to share beds, with girls too. But for adults it was different.

  
“But I still think she should let him come home. He’s very sorry, I know it.”

  
Theodosia pondered on that. Something in her was repulsed by the idea. _One day you’re going to be your very own woman_ , her father always said. _And men will try to get to you. They’ll think they’re entitled to be given things from you, they’ll think they’re more competent and more clever than you. It’s important to be polite, but you must always stand up to these men, too. For yourself._  
Theo reckoned that Eliza Hamilton was doing just that: standing up for herself, in a polite manner. She didn’t shriek or throw things like the women on the TV. But she didn’t want her ex-husband in her life anymore and that was understandable. It was good and right that she was pressing the issue, even though it made the scraggly Mr. Hamilton sad. Theodosia was reminded of that one time on the schoolyard when a boy wouldn’t stop chasing her and pulling her hair, and her teacher had told her to let him be because it was his way of showing he liked her. She had just wanted to play soccer with her friends in peace. Her father, once he’d heard of it, had called the teacher and there had been Words.

  
Maybe Philip, as a boy, didn’t know these things were important. Maybe he was the sort of boy to chase after girls and pull their hair? She couldn’t have her brother-to-be doing that, and thought that maybe she should have Words with him. But then she thought, _he’s probably just sad_. _He’s going through a lot with his parents. He won’t like to think about his dad seeing someone new just yet._

  
So she put the Words, as well as her other plans, aside for now. She was positive that she could recruit Philip to her cause, but she’d have to take it slow. Be careful. Wait, then pounce.

  
“Do you wanna play with my legos?” she asked.

  
She got out a box of legos and was too busy building a castle with Philip to pay anymore mind to the living room. That was why she didn’t hear her father’s phone ring for the second time that day.

 

“Who on earth…in the middle of the holiday…?”

  
Aaron was muttering to himself and cursing the caller as he searched for where he’d dropped his phone. Hamilton watched with a smile as he almost tripped over a discarded sofa cushion, only to find his phone underneath. By now it had, of course, stopped ringing. Burr glanced at the screen and frowned.

  
“Urgent client?” Hamilton asked.

  
“No…different thing. Nothing to do with work. But I gotta call back real quick.”

  
He stepped out of the room for that, clearly looking a bit uncomfortable. Apparently Hamilton wasn’t supposed to know who Burr was calling and what he was calling them about…which only made him even antsier to. So he strained his ears for Aaron’s voice.

  
“Hello? You called. Ah, about that…yeah, no, I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel the appointment tonight. Yes, I know.”

  
This gave Hamilton pause. Appointment? Tonight? Aaron had said it wasn’t work…

  
“Yes, yes, it’s…no, I’m having a…friend over. It’s all been rather short-notice. Mmh. No, yeah, couldn’t be changed. Maybe we can try again next week? Mmh. Yeah, if you could squeeze me into your schedule then, that’d be great…yeah, I know, you’ve got a lot to do. Still, if you could…? Ah, thank you. Mmh. See you then. Stay safe…yeah, yeah, I’m aware, I meant, just, in general. I don’t know about that. Hmm, yeah, I’ll call ahead next time. Sorry. Things have been a bit hectic around here. Right, we’ll hear from each other. See you next week.”

 

When Burr came back into the room, Hamilton asked: “What on earth was that?”

  
“I had an appointment which I had to cancel.”

  
“Because I’m here? You shouldn’t have.”

  
“There really was no other way. Not with… _that_ appointment.”

  
Hmm. There was a very limited number of reasons you met someone at night but not when your friends were over. Family and work were right out – you didn’t meet clients at night and in the middle of the holiday, not even with a _very_ urgent lawsuit, and Burr had no family save for his little daughter. Maybe a very embarrassing friend…but no, the whole tone of the conversation had been too…distant for that. Even a touch professional. It had reminded Hamilton more of the way Aaron talked to clients than the way he talked to their few common friends.

  
Maybe it had been Jefferson. Alex knew that Aaron occasionally collaborated with that prick, and of course he wouldn’t have the two meet in his apartment – there was likely to be damage to the interior. But no, Jefferson had better things to do than to hang around Burr right now. He was probably busy warming Madison’s bed.

  
_Wait a minute – bedwarmer! That’s it!_ Hamilton remembered what he’d heard from Theodosia about the girls and boys that apparently slipped in and out of Aaron’s bed on the regular. Burr had literally just canceled a hook-up to be with Alex.

  
He found that weirdly heartwarming.


End file.
